Judge Denise Pratt speaks to the media after a grand jury gave her a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 in Houston.
(Eric Kayne/For the Chronicle)

Judge Denise Pratt speaks to the media after a grand jury gave her a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 in Houston.
(Eric Kayne/For the Chronicle)

Photo: Eric Kayne

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Attorney Terry Yates, off camera, right, makes a statement on behalf of Judge Denise Pratt, center, after a grand jury a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 in Houston. (Eric Kayne/For the Chronicle)

Attorney Terry Yates, off camera, right, makes a statement on behalf of Judge Denise Pratt, center, after a grand jury a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013

Judge Denise Pratt speaks to the media after a grand jury gave her a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 in Houston.

Judge Denise Pratt speaks to the media after a grand jury gave her a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 in Houston.

Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle

Image 4 of 8

Attorney Terry Yates, off camera, right, makes a statement on behalf of Judge Denise Pratt, center, after a grand jury a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 in Houston. less

Attorney Terry Yates, off camera, right, makes a statement on behalf of Judge Denise Pratt, center, after a grand jury a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 ... more

Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle

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Judge Denise Pratt speaks to the media after a grand jury gave her a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 in Houston.

Judge Denise Pratt speaks to the media after a grand jury gave her a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 in Houston.

Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle

Image 7 of 8

Attorney Terry Yates right, makes a statement on behalf of Judge Denise Pratt, center, after a grand jury gave a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 in Houston. less

Attorney Terry Yates right, makes a statement on behalf of Judge Denise Pratt, center, after a grand jury gave a no-bill in a case where she was accused of tampering with court documents, Dec. 20, 2013 in ... more

Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle

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Lawyer lodges new criminal complaint against judge

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Embattled family court Judge Denise Pratt is the subject of another criminal complaint by Webster family lawyer Greg Enos, who is alleging that the freshman judge broke the law when she signed orders saying she had given prior notice to lawyers before dismissing hundreds of cases last month.

Judges are required under rules of civil procedure to schedule hearings and warn parties involved in pending litigation of their intent to dismiss cases, but numerous lawyers, including Enos, have told the Houston Chronicle they only learned their cases had been dismissed after the fact. Pratt, through her lawyer, has acknowledged that at least some notices were not sent out, but has blamed the problem on a new computer system at the Harris County District Clerk's office.

A spokesman for the District Clerk's office has said that system, known as eFileTexas.gov system, has nothing to do with the mailing of notices of upcoming dismissal hearings.

Dismissal orders Pratt signed for various cases attached to Enos' new criminal complaint and obtained from the District Clerk's office say that "all parties were given notice of the setting date and that failure to appear would be grounds for dismissal."

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Enos said, however, that Pratt had no dismissal hearings scheduled on the two days she signed the majority of the orders, Dec. 30 and 31.

"It's like a preacher who signs marriage license and says 'I married these 631 couples when no one was in his church,'" said Enos, who e-mailed his criminal complaint to the chief of the Harris County District Attorney's public integrity unit on Thursday.

The complaint alleges that Pratt violated a section of the state penal code that makes it a crime to make a "false entry" in a government record, "which is defined to include a court document."

Enos filed a criminal complaint in October, accusing Pratt of backdating court orders to make it appear she had performed duties months before she actually had in several cases, and other misconduct. That led to the resignation of Pratt's lead clerk and sparked an investigation by the Harris County District Attorney's office and a grand jury that, ultimately, took no action against Pratt.

In response to a public records request, the District Clerk's office last week produced a list of nearly 300 cases that had been dismissed for want of prosecution from Pratt's 311th court since Dec. 20, the day she was no-billed by the grand jury. All but 19 of those cases were dismissed in a single day, Dec. 30.

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